A Wild Bean
by sassyseptum
Summary: Mayor Regina Mills is transported from Storybrooke to Pawnee, Indiana, where things take an unexpected turn.
1. Chapter 1

"What is that… sharp pain. Why does it hurt so unbearably much…"

The thoughts in the mayors head were clouded and unclear. As Regina rolled over to her left side a muffled cry evades her dried-out throat.

"Where am I?"

With her shivering hand, she carefully tries to find her forehead to feel what that warm, wet stuff was that is running down her temple. She is finally able to open her eyes, twitching them together to examine her hand. Scarlet, warm fluid slowly dropped from her bruised fingers. Her pinky seemed to be dislocated. Under different circumstances the sight of blood wouldn't have bothered her, but the merciless combination of nausea, blurriness and that stinging pain in her ribcage that suggested that something must be stuck in it caused her injured body to cringe and throw up her empty stomach's acid.

Finally she was able to sit up and she wiped her mouth with the same hand she just had discovered the blood on, smearing it all over her face. Her other hand fumbles the air, trying to grab something that could possibly help her to get up. Wincing like a puppy dog, she held onto a fence, and pulled herself on her feet. With all the focus she was able to procure, she concentrates on her hand. She was the Queen, she was the mayor. She knew how to heal herself. But no matter how much she tried, there was no tingling sensation in her fingers, she was unable to spawn any magic in her hands. Nothing was happening. The realization that there was no sorcery in this land came quickly.

Regina tried to scan her surroundings but the bright daylight just causes the left side of her head to bite so horribly bad that she can only blink. Slowly the ringing sound she had been hearing in her ears began to fade out, allowing the noises of the real world to get through to her. There must be a street here somewhere.

As unfocused as her mind might have been, she knew one thing for sure. This did not go as planned. Not in the slightest bit. She kept clinging to the fence to move forward, her rips aching with every breath she took. She realized how she hadn't checked what was causing the pain there. Regina reached the corner of a house that provided shadow. Getting out of the steaming midday sun was the best thing that had happened to her since she woke up and allowed her to see better. The back alley she found herself in was abandoned, no one was here, but the noisy street couldn't be far now. She needed help. Desperately. There was no space for arrogance and pride now. As she tumbled further, she noticed how there was still blood slowly tracing down her face. If she didn't find something or someone, she would be fainting really soon. Her surroundings were beginning to get dizzier already, but she kept on walking. It was hard to keep track of where she was since her lungs felt like they were being sliced open this very second. When she was able to lift her head a little higher, she heard wheels screeching. It took only a millisecond from there to her tormented body being smashed against the white Prius, her knees first, cracking. As her upper body collided with the windshield, everything went black.

* * *

Councilwoman Knope marked her calendar. With a red, thick marker, she carefully drew a cross under today's date. It has been nineteen days since she had ran over the anonymous woman. The stranger. The patient without family, wallet, or identity. She has been visiting the nameless patient every other day ever since it happened. It was so quick, so unforeseeable. A moment so short and insignificant in any other situation, yet long enough to destroy so much. The incident had not only tremendously shaken up her life, it had also catapulted her marriage into serious trouble. When Leslie called her husband about what happened, crying, hardly being able to speak, he immediately rushed to her. He found her entirely distraught and weeping, on the side of the road, in-between the huddle of police and ambulances at work. He listened carefully to her and provided safety and comfort, as good as he could. The days went by and the hysteria simmered down… and his thoughts on the problem slowly changed as he grasped the severity of the situation. Ben started to blame his wife for what happened. Even though it was true indeed, she had been looking at her phone - she still could not believe that he would not support her. It was just for a second. To check a text message, the one that he had sent. She bitterly chuckled to herself when she thought about how a notification about lunch had ruined another persons life.

Leslie Knope was certain that if the woman's status wasn't _that_serious, her husband wouldn't have asked her to put the marriage "on hold"… whatever that was supposed to mean. She defined the gravity of the situation by the medical state she had put the other woman in, an medically-induced coma. The doctors had articulated her state thoroughly to her. The coma would allow the brain damage and head injury she had suffered from the collision to heal faster and safer in this state. Further they explained that she already must have been in a severe condition before the collision, since lots of the wounds couldn't be explained through the accident alone, like the two broken rips, the dislocated finger and shoulder; all of it on her right side. Their suspicion was that she was mugged and beat up, nothing else could explain the absent of personal items. However, this did not explain why the hospital's staff was unable to find her family. It usually didn't take long until someone would show up in search of their lost family member, but Jane Doe didn't have such luck just yet. Leslie had offered herself as her emergency contact… it was the least that she could do for her. It was only a matter of time until the doctors would decide that she was stable enough to let her wake up, and Leslie would be the one they'd call.

* * *

A bright light. That is the first thing she notices. Someone was touching her. She raises her right hand to push them away, but it feels so heavy. Why would anyone touch another persons eyes and shine a light into them without permission? This was quite unbelievable.

"Yes, yes, she's waking up." Regina didn't recognize this voice. "Oh, that's good… right?" She didn't know this one either. "Indeed. She looks fine, so far. Ma'am, can you hear me?" Regina blinks. While her whole body somehow felt unusually warm and cozy, her mind was starting to get clear.

"Yes. I do."

She directed her gaze to the person in white to her right. She evidently was in a hospital. Her memories were distinct up to the point where she heard the cars brakes. She was hit by a car… Yes, that made sense. She carefully inspected her hand. The cuts on it were already healing well, they're shining in a soft pink. Her pinkie finger was in place.

"How long since the accident?" Regina lifts her eyebrow.

Dr. Harris shares a curious look with Ann.

"Miss…" He cleared his throat. "Miss, it has been almost three weeks now. How do you know you've been in an accident?"

"Well, doctor…"

"Harris."

"Doctor Harris, why wouldn't I?" She smiled innocently.

"I do remember the wheels of a car screeching as I reached a busy road. This is why I assumed that I've been in a car accident."

While remaining calm on the surface, Regina's mind started racing. They were certainly starting to question her really soon, at least about her name, family, what happened to her before she was run over. Playing the amnesia card was out of the question now that she had already established her intact memory.

"Miss, we would like to ask you a few questions after examining you. Nothing to worry about, just some standard procedures. Nurse Ann Perkins is going to take good care of you, don't you worry." No doubt that the innocent-looking brunette to his right must have been said nurse.

"Excuse me doctor, before you leave… Who is this and why is she allowed in my room?"

Regina points at the blonde who sat on a chair in the back of the room. Something was wrong with her. She had been watching this conversation rather anxiously, her feet restlessly dribbling on the floor. The doctor opens his mouth to answer, but the blonde gets up on her feet quickly and disrupts him. The smile she puts on is bright and friendly, yet fake. She unsuccessfully tried to straighten the wrinkles in her business blazer before she takes a deep breath.

"I'm councilwoman Leslie Knope of the wonderful city of Pawnee, Indiana. I'm so, so happy to see you awake and well."

"And why would that be, councilwoman?"

"Because…" She stopped for a second. "You know, maybe we should first let the best nurse in the world, Ann, do her job and we can talk later, isn't that right, Ann?" The pleading look she gave her friend didn't go unnoticed to the mayor. This one had something to hide, but no one conceals anything from Regina Mills.

"Actually, this is _the one_ question I would like to see answered before anything else happens right now." Regina's smile reminds Leslie of a predators bared teeth.

"My name is Regina Mills by the way. A pleasure… to meet you."

She extends her hand. The blonde is hesitant of how to react, which made her handshake feel indecisive and weak.

Leslie wasn't able to hide that some colour vanished from her cheeks. She definitely didn't expect this to come so soon, she wasn't sure that she was ready to deal with this part of reality already. Checking in with the anonymous woman while she wasn't conscious was much easier than seeing her awake, talking and apparently very confident as well. Her heart rate started to pick up.

"I am the one who is to blame for everything that had happened to you. I'm the one who ran you over, who almost got you killed after you have suffered to terribly already, after you've been mugged." Regina realized that the other woman felt awfully guilty… and guilt was no stranger to her. Actually, she wasn't mad at her at all. She understood whatsoever that she had to use this opportunity, her crushing feeling of sin, to get rid off Leslie before she got too chummy. She hardened her facial features.

"I. Want. Her. Out."

Regina let the feeling of revenge stir up in her, the one emotion that she was the most familiar with. A vein swells up on her right temple.

Doctor Harris whispered something in Ann's ear, and she nodded quickly. "It's okay" the nurse assured as she gently placed a hand on the mayor's shoulder. "We don't have to do this right now." Regina throws a gaze at her that was as poisonous as a snake's venom. Ann carefully let go of the mayor. Doctor Harris rushes over to an increasingly worried looking Leslie and escorted her out of her hospital room.


	2. Chapter 2

While Ann got ready to measure the patient's blood pressure, Regina's mind was operating like clockwork. Since Storybrooke had become visible to the rest of the world when the curse was broken, she didn't have to worry about explaining where she came from. However, she had yet to figure out how to make clear why no one was looking for her. Luckily, those minions had already made up their own theory of how she got _that_ injured - a street crime. How perfect! She could just make up how that went down as they questioned her. There was no way she could possibly have told them the truth. They only would have transferred her to the psychiatry ward… Regina had tried to get back to the Enchanted Forest using one of the magic beans she had harvested from the Charmings' sweet, little plantation. She had noticed that they were still rather small, but she never would've predicted that this fact would cause her to end up in this rathole of a town. Normally a transfer between worlds takes about three seconds, but this one collapsed in itself after just the fraction of a moment, crushing one of her rips and as she entered Pawnee. Her body smashed full speed into the fence she later used to get up.

Patiently, she answered every question the police had for her. Her name was Regina Mills, she was the mayor of the marvellous city of Storybrooke, Maine. She had come here on a vacation, yes, yes; she had heard of the great Harvest Festival, that was the reason she came here. On her way from the train station, some street thugs identified her as a visitor due to her carry-on baggage and brutally bashed her up, of course, yes, they took everything. No, she wasn't able to recall their faces, it went down so quickly. No hotel room reservation yet either, she just wanted to decide when she was here. Her family, ohh, ohh, no, she didn't have any family left and had planned a trip through the country; her friends didn't expected her back so soon. She deserved this vacation, she needed it.

Those peasants of police officers bought everything she reported; then again, she was quite adept at lying. Finally, everyone left her alone and she had a moment to relax.

As she laid down with a long, deep sigh, she realized that she hadn't taken a look around her room. There were fresh-cut roses on the small table beside her bed, as well as a couple of envelopes. Who could possibly have written to her? No one knew she was here. She opened the one that must have been the first and she wasn't familiar with this hand-writing. The letters were small yet neat. Not cursive or elegantly curved, the person who wrote this clearly doesn't have time for such silliness. It didn't remain a secret who authored this letter for long.

My name is Leslie Knope and I'm the one who did this to you.

Well then, she thought to herself, let's see what she has to say to you. As she kept on reading, slowly a whole world unfolded to her. These words allowed such insight into her most private thoughts, like a diary, almost. She told her about her guilt, how she was only inattentive for a second, how she could never forgive herself. Regina was so intrigued by her message, that she hungrily opened the next. Mayor Mills wasn't easily taken in by someone's words, which was why she was not only moved but also a little confused. Why would she choose to tell a stranger about all that? Her coma had been medically induced, which meant that it was certain that she would wake up at some point in the near future. And now she had.

The mayor kept opening letter after letter, soaking everything in. She learned about the trouble this has caused in the councilwoman's marriage, how one of the few who supported her was her beloved friend Ann Perkins. The nurse… and she had treated her so patronizingly. In this very moment she understood why Councilwoman Knope must have been so nervous upon her awakening; not only did she regret deeply what has happened blended with the torment of not being able to revert it, but also she had spilled her universe into these letters. She must have been wanting to take them with her, probably. The queen took some time to let these thoughts marinate.

After careful consideration, she decided that she needed to see her. She hadn't felt that deeply connected to anyone's feelings lately, except her son Henry's. Leslie's descriptions of guilt and regret were so familiar, so well-known to her. A lot of her actions as queen and even as mayor had caused the one she loved the most pain, and she had promised him to change. The pledge was honest and genuine. Perhaps the earnest vow she might have ever taken. If it was in her power to take remorse away from just one person, this gruesome feeling that nested in the darkest place of her heart and haunted her in the wee hours of the night, then she would do it.

As she tried to sit up, reality hit her like a fist in the face. Her rips were still healing, and laying still had falsely lured her into believing that it would be easy to get up and out of here. However, it was not impossible to move. She probably wasn't allowed to go anywhere just yet, which meant that she had to sneak out. She located her clothes, they had been dry-cleaned. How very vigilant of them. She went to her bathroom to make herself look presentable, as she saw herself in the mirror, she stumbled back a step. She had never seen herself in such terrible condition, her olive skin looked pale in a way that just a sick person's does, her eyes a little sunk in, two yellowish bruises and several cuts that were healing. One of them was exactly where her old scar on her lip was… Apparently this was a very vulnerable part of her since she got it the first time she travelled between worlds.

A councilwoman wouldn't be too hard to find on a Monday afternoon, right? As Regina looked at herself in the mirror, she couldn't help but to be dissatisfied with her own appearance, this was far from what she looked like on a bad day in Storybrooke. Her charcoal business dress fitted rather loosely, she must have lost some weight during her artificial sleep. Carefully holding on to her right side as she glanced around her room, she located city hall on one of those maps lying around on her table. It wasn't too far from here.

The mayor managed to leave her room without being noticed by the chief nurse, every breath still causing her slight pain. Upon her arrival at the town hall, the elderly lady behind the information desk looked really quite worried, but did not refuse to tell her where to find Mrs. Knope's office. Regina knocked three times, quickly using her left hand to support herself at Leslie's door frame as this walk evidently was much more exhausting that she would have expected it to be. She looked down, her black locks falling in front of her contracted eyebrows, and exhaled cautiously.

"Come in!" Leslie didn't look up from her desk at first, but as the person behind her door explained: "Miss Knope, it is… Regina Mills. Could you please open the door", the blonde jumped up from her desk and hurried over to let the mayor in.

"Oh my god Miss Mills, what are you doing here?" The anguish of an overstrained, mending ribcage was painted all over Regina's features as she looked up into the councilwoman's face. Leslie took the queen's arm and laid it over her shoulder to help her to the nearest chair. With her left foot, she kicked the door close.

"Please, sit, Miss Mills. You shouldn't even be here! You could have called me, I would've visited if you you need something… anything, really". Leslie sat down in the chair to her left. Her surprise quickly mixed with a strong feeling of shame. Guilt always overcame her when she thought about the patient and since she now sat in front of her, in pain - again -, it hit her twice as hard.

Regina quickly enforced a smile.

"Stop worrying yourself, Mrs. Knope. I am here to clear things up about " as she exhaled, something within her chest creaked rather quietly, but Regina had to jerk her back straight to avoid crying out in distress.

"Are you okay?!"

Leslie leaped up from her chair and took the other woman's hand. "I have to get you back to the hospital, whatever you have to say has to wait…"

"NO. Please - sit down, and listen". Regina took her other hand and made a gesture to her chair. Leslie hesitated for a second, but there was something in the other woman's eyes, almost a plead, that changed her mind. She didn't let go of her hand as she took a seat.

"I… um." Every muscle in the mayors body got tense. Her grip on the other woman's hand became tighter. "I read your letters, Leslie. I can call you Leslie, right?" The blonde nods, being all ears. Leslie Knope usually was the very epitome of confidence, if not known for being overly confident. And excited. And shrill. But right now, she was ready to pay attention.

"All I really need to say is, I understand. I _know_ what you're going through. I utterly, truly grasp the emotional state you're in and I feel like it is my duty to at least try to take this burden off your shoulders. I am not angry about what happened. I have never been. I don't want you to have to feel ashamed and guilty, because if the person who was affected by what happened is going to be okay, then there is nothing left to feel guilty about." Leslie's gaze focused on the mayor's hazel eyes. While her face looked exhausted, her eyes were sincere and awake. She couldn't believe what she had just heard. "Then, why… why did you send me out of your room?" Regina can't help but to smile at this question, since it is the one she cannot answer. "It is complicated." The blonde studied Regina's face for a brief moment. She seemed to be honest and serious about this… and the longer she thought about it, she realized that it actually was the truth. If the victim had forgiven her, she might still be in her debt, but she could be able to let go of those crushing sentiments of self-loathing. It would be the healthiest thing to do.

They looked at each other in silence. Realizing the truth in her words was such an overwhelming sense of relief for Leslie that hot tears began to fill up her eyes. She never would've thought that this would happen. She already had made peace with the notion that those feelings would accompany for her remaining life, because one doesn't simply run over a person and carries on as if nothing had happened. Regina could feel it, as did Leslie. The energy that radiated between them, the mutual understanding, it was a link between two tantalized souls. The mayor got up from her chair, her ribs stinging. She lets go of Leslie's hand and places hers instead on the blonde's shoulder, the other one gently pushing curled strands of hair out of her face. Leslie watched her, quietly, slightly confused about what was happening, but she didn't stop her. The mayor of Storybrooke leans in and softly places her lips on those of councilwoman Knope. Leslie savoured the moment; inhaling deeply as she was electrified by the strangely pleasant intimacy. Regina carefully pulls away and smiles. She herself wasn't quite so sure what had just happened.

"I um… I'm." The queen of the Enchanted Forest was never speechless. She always had a comeback, a way out, an explanation, even if it was made up. But right now, her heart was drumming in her chest, anxiously pumping blood into her cheeks. Regina shakes the hair out of her eyesight. She had no escape route for this.

Leslie got up and places her index finger on the mayor's lips. "We had more than enough confessions today". Carefully she frames Regina's face with both of her hands, trying not to hurt her by touching any of her still vulnerable injuries. As she gently returns the kiss, she felt how Regina's arms pulled her close to her, embracing her. She was hurting herself by doing so, but the pain was overpowered by the calming feeling of Leslie's body against hers. Leslie cautiously returns it. They were going to be fine.

The both of them.


End file.
